Monday, August 26, 2013

From Goodreads: "You have to kill him."
Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing
except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of
instructions she finds taped inside the drain. Only Em can
complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the
creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the
proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each
failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible
present - imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor
while war rages outside. Marina has loved her best friend James
since the day he moved next door when they were children. A gorgeous,
introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families,
James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one
disastrous night, James’s life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s
hopes for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. Marina will
protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a
truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl
she once was.

My Rating: 3.5 hearts

Thoughts
on the Novel:All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill starts off simply with a
prisoner magnetized by a drain, but quickly becomes an engrossing, fast-paced
read with plenty of action. That said, I probably won’t remember much about the
novel in a few months because I didn’t really connect with the characters in a
meaningful way. As well, because Terrill did her best to avoid time paradoxes,
it was hard for me to see how the characters grew from their past selves into
their present selves, making it seem as if the two storylines were a bit
disconnected.

All Our Yesterdays will be released
by Disney Hyperion on September 3, 2013.

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Disney Book Group) for free via NetGalley.

From Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old
Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment,
and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for
one thing - spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in
her mother’s shop. So when Xander Spence walks into the store to
pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen
to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s
one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to
know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned
from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention
span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare
him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company. She
knows her mom can’t find out - she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather
Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money.
But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince
Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money
is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized.
And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

My Rating: 3 hearts

Thoughts
on the Novel: Since I really liked Kasie West’s Pivot Point and
thought that it felt very much like a contemporary novel despite not being one, I was
looking forward to seeing what she’d do with an actual contemporary.
Sadly, I didn’t enjoy The Distance Between Us as much as I was expecting to,
mainly because I found Caymen to be very judgmental. I also didn’t like the
way she treated Xander. But, I did like the unique doll shop setting and the
focus on Carmen’s relationship with her mother.

Monday, August 19, 2013

From Goodreads: Neryn has finally found
the rebel group at Shadowfell, and now her task is to seek out the
elusive Guardians, vital to her training as a Caller. These four
powerful beings have been increasingly at odds with human kind, and
Neryn must prove her worth to them. She desperately needs their help to
use her gift without compromising herself or the cause of overthrowing
the evil King Keldec. Neryn must journey with the tough and
steadfast Tali, who looks on Neryn's love for the double agent Flint as a
needless vulnerability. And perhaps it is. What Flint learns from the
king will change the battlefield entirely - but in whose favor, no one
knows. My Rating: 3.5 hearts

Thoughts
on the Novel: In Raven Flight by Juliet Marillier, Neryn has recovered her
strength after the events of the previous book, Shadowfell, and plans on
seeking the Guardians’ help in spring. But with the conditions of a potential
ally’s aid being time bound, she’s forced to speed up her learning of what it
means to be a Caller, and so decides to start her journey by going west to find
the Hag of the Isles instead of north to seek the Lord of the North.

Accompanying Neryn on her journey is
Talia, a girl who serves as Neryn’s foil. Whereas Neryn is physically weaker
and morally struggles to use her canny skills for the greater good at the
expense of individuals, Talia is a survivor who always puts the rebellion
first. Talia also considers love to be a sign of weakness and can’t believe
that Neryn and Flint are willing to get closer to each other, knowing that the
enemy can easily use their love against them.

While Shadowfell was full of Flint’s presence, he is
only given a brief amount of page time in Raven Flight. This means that the tentative
romance between Neryn and Flint doesn’t get much
deeper, but it does serve to highlight Flint’s
perilous role as a member of the rebels.

Although I’ve liked both books in
the Shadowfell trilogyso far, I
still haven’t fully fallen in love with this series because it’s so slow.
Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to Caller and expect there to be a lot more
action in it since Regan’s Rebels will finally be going up against Keldec and
his army.

Raven Flight was released by Knopf
Books for Young Readers in July 2013.

Comments
About the Cover: I like the use of darker colours because it lends some bleakness
to the scene chosen since it was a time of loneliness for Neryn.

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Random House) for free via NetGalley.

Monday, August 12, 2013

From Goodreads: Terra has never known anything but life aboard the Asherah,
a city-within-a-spaceship that left Earth five hundred years ago in
search of refuge. At sixteen, working a job that doesn't interest her,
and living with a grieving father who only notices her when he's
yelling, Terra is sure that there has to be more to life than what she's
got. But when she inadvertently witnesses the captain's guard
murdering an innocent man, Terra is suddenly thrust into the dark world
beneath her ship's idyllic surface. As she's drawn into a secret
rebellion determined to restore power to the people, Terra discovers
that her choices may determine life or death for the people she cares
most about. With mere months to go before landing on the long-promised
planet, Terra has to make the decision of a lifetime - one that will
determine the fate of her people.

My Rating: 1 heart

Thoughts
on the Novel: Though I’m not a big fan of sci-fi novels, I was pretty
interested in reading Phoebe North’s debut, Starglass, because of North’s
presence on Goodreads and in the blogosphere. Unfortunately, I struggled to finish Starglass due to several reasons.

First, I found it incredibly hard to
believe in the worldbuilding. Having discussed the challenges of traveling to
another planet in an astronomy course I took, I just didn’t find the existence
of the Asherah very realistic. I might have been able to put aside my skepticism
if the Asherah were a spaceship consisting of a few people traveling to a
planet nearby, but North made it almost like a miniature city. There were a few
hundred people, pets, crops being grown on fields, babies being born in a
hatchery … all on a spaceship engaging in interstellar travel!

Another thing I was constantly
focused on was the strong incorporation of Judaism in Starglass. It was very
unexpected, and left me wondering why there weren’t any people of other
religions present on the Asherah. Midway through the book, I finally learned
that the Asherah is owned by the Post-terrestrial Jewish Preservation Society. Had
this been explained earlier, I think it wouldn’t have been nagging me so much,
allowing me to concentrate more fully on the plot.

Speaking of the plot, Starglass’ is
really slow and meandering. For the
first third of the book or so, there isn’t much going on other than Terra going
to work, wanting to be kissed, and planning her marriage. Later on, she joins a
rebel group and is chosen to assassinate somebody but is too busy making out
with them.

As a character, I did not like Terra! Aside from the fact that
she’s a bad friend, I thought that Terra seemed very desperate for romantic
love since she’s constantly thinking about kissing guys. I hate when girls
appear needy in that sense. I also didn’t find her to be a strong character – she does quite a bit of crying – which was too bad because she
sometimes found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and then would get
involved in things I thought she probably had no business getting involved in.

Finally, I didn’t know what to make
of the absurd ending. Spoiler alert: While the Asherah has been in space, Terra – for
reasons unknown – has not only been dreaming about Zehava (the
planet the Asherati plan on colonizing) being inhabited but also of a
particular Zehavanguy. (The Asherati don't know that Zehava is inhabited until the Asherah gets near and a
team is sent to scope out the planet.) After witnessing something dangerous, Terra
realizes she’ll no longer be safe on the Asherah and so decides to seek
safety with the Zehevanguy she has
been dreaming about, a guy who happens to be a total stranger!

Starglass was released in July 2013 by
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Comments
About the Cover: I really like the pretty cover, and think it relates well to the
story because it has a girl looking through a window at a planet. She is
surrounded by leaves, which symbolize Terra’s occupation as a botanist.

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Simon & Schuster) for free via Edelweiss.

Monday, August 05, 2013

From Goodreads: Lexington Larrabee has
never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the
multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not
supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand
new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either. Which
is why, on Lexi’s eighteen birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father
decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every
week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage
job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s
anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food
restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit
moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep
tabs on her. In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family,
forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi
learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and,
regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she
might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to
love him.

My Rating: 3.5 hearts

Thoughts
on the Novel: Although the plot of 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica
Brody is pretty generic in that it’s about a spoiled heiress who learns to
appreciate what she has, I still found it an entertaining read. I think a huge
part of that was because of Lexi. She’s this completely bratty teen in the
beginning of the book, yet still somehow manages to be hilarious. It was easy
to not only laugh with her, but also at her. Once Lexi started to mature, it
became much easier to like her. I did think that her change in perspective was
kind of quick though. Still, I’d have to say that 52 Reasons to Hate My Father
is probably the best out of the three books written by Brody that I’ve read so
far.

52 Reasons to Hate My Father was
released in July 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

From Goodreads: Clara Gardner has
recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through
her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans
(a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she
has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out
what that is, though, isn't easy. Her visions of a raging forest
fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town.
When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams
(literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the
same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's
less angelic side. As Clara tries to find her way in a world she
no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she
never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and
duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will
Clara be ready to face her destiny?

My Rating: 4 hearts

Thoughts on the Novel:
As much as I love books about angels, most of the ones that I’ve read
haven’t been particularly outstanding. But, one series about angels that has
been recommended many times is the Unearthly trilogy by Cynthia Hand. I finally decided to give the first book, Unearthly, a try and wasn't disappointed.

Early on, I figured that Unearthly would be another
typical paranormal YA novel because it seemed like Clara would eventually hook up with Christian, the boy of her dreams. However, Hand did a great job of deviating from that
norm. And while doing so, she
managed to create complex characters and realistic relationships, and explore
the theme of fate vs. free will without making it appear heavy-handed.